Founded in 1993, the Munster Literature Centre (Ionad Litríochta an Deiscirt) is a non-profit arts organisation dedicated to the promotion and celebration of literature, especially that of Munster. To this end, we organise festivals, workshops, readings and competitions. Our publishing section, Southword Editions, publishes a biannual journal, poetry collections and short stories. We actively seek to support new and emerging writers and are assisted in our efforts through funding from Cork City Council, Cork County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland.Originally located in Sullivan's Quay, the centre moved to its current premises in the Frank O'Connor House (the author's birthplace) at 84 Douglas Street, in 2003.

In 2000, the Munster Literature Centre organised the first Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival, an event dedicated to the celebration of the short story and named for one of Cork's most beloved authors. The festival showcases readings, literary forums and workshops. Following continued growth and additional funding, the Cork City - Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award was introduced in 2005, coinciding with Cork's designation as that year's European Capital of Culture. The award is now recognised as the single biggest prize for a short story collection in the world and is presented at the end of the festival.In 2002, the Munster Literature Centre introduced the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize, an annual short story competition dedicated to one of Ireland's most accomplished story writers and theorists. This too is presented during the FOC festival. The centre also hosts the Cork Spring Literary Festival each year, at which the Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize is awarded (established 2010).

Workshops are held by featured authors in both autumn and spring, allowing the general public to receive creative guidance in an intimate setting for a minimal fee. In addition, the centre sponsors a Writer in Residence each year. We invite you to browse our website for further information regarding our events, Munster literature, and other literary information. Should you have any queries, we would be happy to hear from you.

Fool for Poetry

International Chapbook

Competition 2018

Some people are fools for love, others are fools for poetry

1st Prize: €1,000; 2nd Prize :€500
Both winners will win a chapbook publication and 50 complimentary copies. The published chapbooks will be reviewed in Southword Journal and elsewhere.

The winning poets are also offered a reading and three nights' accommodation
at the Cork 2019 International Poetry Festival (March 27th-30th, 2019) (www.corkpoetryfest.net)

The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. One of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a debutant poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended".

Manuscripts can be between 16 and 23 pages in length, in the English language and the sole work of the entrant with no pastiches, translations or 'versions'. The poems can be in verse or prose.

There is an entrance fee of €25 for each manuscript. Entrants may enter more than one manuscript. The winners will be selected by a panel of renowned poets including Mary Noonan, Matthew Sweeney, Thomas McCarthy, James Harpur and Leanne O’Sullivan.

The winning chapbooks will be published by Southword editions in March 2019 and will be launched at the Cork International Poetry Festival (March 27-30, 2019). It will be offered for sale internationally through our own website and in selected independent book sellers.

The chapbook for submission (Word document. We cannot accept PDF's). As the competition is judged anonymously, we request that you do not write your name or personal details anywhere on this document.

A cover letter (separate word document attached to the same email). The cover letter should include
- Your name
- Chapbook title
- Email address
- Phone number
- Postal address
- Image of PayPal receipt or the Paypal transaction ID number
- How your heard about the competition
- A brief bio (optional)
Please ensure that this information is in the attachment and not in the body of the email.

Payment of the €25 entry fee can be made through PayPal (see below)

Postal entry: Please include:

Submission manuscript (typed). To ensure anonymity, please do not write your name or any other personal details on the manuscript.

Cover letter - see details above. Cover letter should be on a separate page to ensure anonymity.

Payment: If you have paid through Paypal, just quote the Paypal transaction ID. Alternatively we accept cheques and bank drafts (see details below)

Learn more about past winners and highly commended poets
from the Fool for Poetry Competitions here!

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A brief history of Fool for Poetry
Chapbook Competition

The Munster Literature Centre established the Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition in 2005. The competition offered writers the opportunity to have their poems published in a high quality production from the Munster Literature Centre's publishing branch, Southword Editions. The winner also received a cash prize and travel expenses to Ireland for the book launch. The competition did not run from 2010-13. It was reintroduced in 2014.